Erwan pursed his lips, trying to keep from frowning despite the hardness in his eyes. No matter what Chance said against the Guard, he would take offense to it. This was his life. This was what he wanted more than anything in his life. After fighting for so long and almost giving up, how could he ever turn his back now? No, he would be a dragon rider if he had to die for it. Standing tense, he waited as Hayden turned away to get the letter, not taking his eyes off of Chance. And he pretended to be the cool headed one here. Where did that go?

"Excuse me?" Surprised, he blinked his eyes at the object that Chance held out. A wash of nausea dropped through him an instant later. Erwan flinched before forgetting his own tension to step forward and grab the patch, almost crushing it in a shaking hand. The scars around his eye looked faint; he knew it. But still his face felt naked without hiding them. Only because of the danger of this situation did he forget about it. Ducking his eyes, he tied the patch in place once again. "Thank you," he murmured despite not wanting to be indebted to this other man at all.

Hayden returned with the letter and Erwan glanced toward him, still feeling off his game. Taking it, he started to unfurl the rolled parchment as he turned his attention back to Chance. "The same as those leading rebellions tear our kingdom in two, bringing war, and destroying supply lines that leave the families of dragon riders starving?" he asked, his voice low and even. He never saw this corruption that Chance spoke of. Every wrong he saw went both ways. Dragon riders of the guard were the elite. He strived his entire youth in order to obtain his position. If other people wanted that, then they should just fight for it like him. No one told them they couldn't be riders. Just that they had to belong to the guard.

Shaking his head, Erwan re-rolled the letter after a second. It was just formality. In this situation, real words mattered more. "You may say whatever you would like and I won't speak or fight for Hayden, but you will never win me over. You yourself are corrupted with the lies that have been told to you. I don't know why you even want us. Why...why did you even stay to talk...?" Like this, Chance might force his hand. No more nice chit-chat and after the return of his eye patch, he wasn't sure he wanted a fight.